Local diva Caballero returns to sing in FGO’s La Rondine

Cuban-born and Miami-raised diva Elizabeth Caballero is back in South Florida to perform with her home company, Florida Grand Opera (FGO). The lyric soprano is singing the lead role of Magda in the rarely produced Puccini opera La Rondine, which opened on Jan. 21 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Caballero got her start in opera while working in the Florida Grand Opera box office. Deciding to pursue a career in voice, she auditioned for the company’s chorus and then the FGO Young Artist Studio, one of the most coveted programs of its kind in the country.

Since then, she has sung prominent roles with FGO, such as the lead in La Bohème in 2008 and a critically acclaimed Liu in Turandot in 2010, becoming a local favorite in South Florida’s classical music scene.

“I think what has made me a “favorite” is that Miami audiences have seen me grow into the artist I am today,” Caballero said. “They have been with me from my college years, through my time as a Young Artist, and so on. I am a true product of the great city of Miami.”

Although proud and grateful for the support she has at home, Caballero’s accolades don’t stop here. She has shared her talents with audiences throughout the country and abroad. In fact, it was after performing La Rondine for her European debut in Trieste, Italy, that she became infatuated with this opera and campaigned for it at FGO.

“I just had to see it in Miami because I fell in love with this opera,” she said.

La Rondine, which means “the swallow,” is the story of a kept woman who leaves a luxurious life with her protector in search of true love. However, a prediction made in the first act heralds that, like a bird returning to the nest, she will go back to the life she knows. La Rondine is sung in Italian with projected translations in English and Spanish. It continues at the Arsht Center through Feb. 4.

Tickets start as low as $11 and can be purchased online at www.FGO.org or by phone 1-800-741-1010 at the FGO Box Office.